By Theda Kleinhans Reichman Playwright Tracy Letts’s “August: Osage County” was the darling of Broadway — garnering five Tony Awards during its run, plus the Pulitzer Prize. Now this acclaimed comedy-drama has arrived on the screen, adapted by Letts. Meryl Streep stars as the totally messed-up matriarch of a family so dysfunctional your family […]

By Dean Lamanna PALMS SPRINGS – Helen Reddy has an affinity for this city that goes back to her Grammy Award-winning days in the 1970s, when she would steal away to the desert from the bustle of Hollywood for recharging respites in the sun. So she’s excited that her next performance date at the […]

PALM SPRINGS – Nowhere else can you attend a quartet of philanthropic events, rub shoulders with world-class artists, sip a goblet filled with Vichy Catalan water and then cap the evening with a scrumptious strawberry butterscotch milkshake — crowned with a homemade doughnut and light-as-a-feather marshmallow — all in the same month. Parties flow like […]

By Frieda Noone PALM SPRINGS – Hard Rock Hotel Palm Springs is now accepting canned goods and other non-perishable food items as part of the brand’s annual Imagine There’s No Hunger global awareness and fundraising campaign. The resort, which opened its doors just one month ago, has partnered with the Coachella Valley’s FIND Food Bank in […]

PALM SPRINGS – The new Hard Rock Hotel Palm Springs debuted Top Rock, the first of its offerings under its entertainment banner The Edge, to help preview the 20th Annual Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards last Friday, November 8. The invitation-only occasion was held to announce those who will be honored at the next Steve Chase […]

Our Hero sculpture by Tony and Karen Barone was dedicated on November 9th at the Palm Springs Fire Station. Our Hero sculptures have been given all over the Desert in various colors to Community venues. Mayor Steve Pougnet and Councilwoman Ginny Foat were featured speakers at this dedication. Fireman were present and stood for photos […]

DESERT HOT SPRINGS – It was a big night for mayoral incumbent Yvonne Parks and city council member candidate Joe McKee in this city. By the time the Riverside County Registrar of Voters had posted the final results for Election Night, Nov. 5 (and Desert Star Weekly went to press), Parks and McKee were the confident winners in their respective races. With 100 percent of […]

PALM SPRINGS – Here is this much-renovated city’s ultimate “motel” makeover success story: The Sparrows Hotel. The property was formerly the EL Rancho Lodge, which opened in the 1950s as a roadside motel and languished for years until Doug and Josie Smith stepped in and transformed it into a Western-themed mini-resort with 19 guestrooms. The […]

Union Bank paid tribute to the memory of Richard M. Milanovich, an exemplary leader for the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians and the Coachella Valley community, with a ceremony dedicating a customized, black granite bench in his honor. The bench will feature a photo of Chairman Milanovich, an inscription in his memory and […]